Recrutement d’un consultant sur l’ensemble minimum de données de base agricoles (MSCD), Zambie

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

SELECTION OF INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21

REQUEST FOR SERVICES TITLE: CONSULTANCY ON MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD)

1. The COMESA Secretariat is inviting Individual Consultants to submit their CV and Financial Proposal for the following services: CONSULTANCY ON MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD) 

The Terms of Reference defining the minimum technical requirements for these services are attached as Annex 1 to this Request for Expression of Interest. 

2. Only Individual Consultants are eligible to participate under this assignment if they fulfil the following eligibility criteria: 

• they are a national of an AfDB Member country and have sufficient experience to undertake this assignment.
• they are not bankrupt or wound up, are not having their affairs administered by the courts, have not entered into arrangements with creditors, have not suspended business activities, are not being subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are not in any similar situations arising from similar procedures provided for in the national legislation or regulations of the COMESA member states.
• they have not been convicted of offences concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which haves the force of res judicata; (i.e. against which no appeal is possible);
• they have not been declared guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which COMESA Secretariat can justify.
• they have fulfilled obligations related to the payments of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those countries where the contract is to be performed.
• they have not been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the COMESA Secretariat’ financial interests; or they are not being currently subject to an administrative penalty.

3. The maximum budget for this contract is $37,500 per consultant for expert service/consultants’ fees only. Proposals exceeding this budget will not be accepted.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

supporting documents. If the supporting documents are not in English, these shall be accompanied by a certified translation into English.

5. Your application documents clearly marked and email bearing the subject 

“CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – CONSULTANCY ON MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD)”, should be emailed to the following address: [email protected]

6. 6. The deadline for submission of your application, to the address indicated in Paragraph 5 above, is:

24 AUGUST 2021 AT 16:00 hours

7. Physical submission of applications is NOT allowed.

8. Your CV will be evaluated against the following criteria.

9. Your proposal should be submitted as per the following instructions: 

• PRICES:

The financial proposal shall be inclusive of all expenses deemed necessary by the Individual Consultant for the performance of the contract.

• EVALUATION AND AWARD OF THE CONTRACT:

Expressions of Interest determined to be formally compliant to the requirements will be further evaluated technically.

An Expression of Interest is considered compliant to the requirements if:

• It fulfils the formal requirements (see Paragraphs 2,3,4,5,6 and 7 above),
• The financial proposal does not exceed the maximum available budget for the contract.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

The award will be made to the applicant who obtains the highest technical score. Expressions of Interest not obtaining a minimum score of 70% will be rejected.

• VALIDITY OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:

Your Expression of Interest should be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of deadline for submission indicated in Paragraph 6 above.

10. The assignment is expected to commence within two (2) weeks from the signature of the contract.

11. Additional requests for information and clarifications can be made until 7 working days prior to deadline indicated in the paragraph 6 above, from:

The Procuring entity: COMESA Secretariat

Contact person: Ted Peter Luka

E-mail: [email protected];  [email protected]; [email protected];

The answers on the questions received will be sent to the Consultant and all questions received as well as the answers to them will be posted on the COMESA Secretariat’s website at the latest 3 working days before the deadline for submission of applications.

ANNEXES:

ANNEX 1: Terms of Reference

ANNEX 2: Expression of Interest Forms

Sincerely,

Name: Silver Mwesigwa

Title: Head of Procurement

Date: 2 AUGUST 2021

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

ANNEX 1: TERMS OF REFERENCE

Individual Consultant – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

BACKGROUND 

• Agriculture plays a central and strategic role for African development in terms of economic growth, enhanced living standards, poverty reduction, and increased food security. Indeed, all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have direct or indirect linkages to agriculture. Therefore, the importance of agricultural sector requires that its planning, management, and monitoring be based on sound incidence. In turn, this requires the availability of comprehensive, reliable, consistent and timely statistical data in a form that is usable to a variety of users at both national, regional and international levels.
• In October 2015, the African Development Bank (AfDB) developed a strategy for long-term agricultural transformation in Africa, entitled “Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA)” known as “Feeding Africa” initiative, in order to map out how to unlock Africa’s agricultural potential and boost job creation in view of diversifying economies. As such, ATA supports the realization of key SDGs through the development of an inclusive and competitive African agribusiness sector. Underpinning this vision the ATA are four specific goals: (i) contribute to the end of poverty;
• end hunger and malnutrition; (iii) make Africa a net food exporter; and
• move Africa to the top of export-orientated value chains where it has comparative advantage.
• In order to inform the ATA, AfDB has developed a system for compiling the Minimum Set of agricultural Core Data (MSCD) produced by African countries, while assisting them to ensure that such for data as well as their sources are consistent and coherent. MSCD are published on the AfDB’s Africa Information Highway (AIH) Data Portal.
• The MSCD covers crop production, core agricultural inputs, land cover & use, livestock production, aquaculture & fisheries, forestry production, food consumption, trade data, consumer & producer food prices, etc. The information is collected from African countries (& is regularly updated every year) by AfDB, as part of the AfDB activities on agricultural activities in order to inform agricultural & rural development policies in Africa, as well as the Feed Africa agenda of the Bank, and SDGs.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

2. OBJECTIVE

There is widespread recognition and consensus that the National Statistical Systems (NSSs) in Africa are weak and under-resourced. This makes it difficult for Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to undertake statistical operations as and when due, as required by international best practice for optimal evidence-based policy dialogue. These weak National Statistical Offices (NSOs), and particularly those in Transitional States, have further deteriorated since the onset of COVID- The pandemic has not only disrupted statistical operations, particularly field operations for data collection in previously planned surveys and censuses, among others, that have had to be postponed, but it has also reduced allocated budgets as scarce financial resources were shifted to saving lives, protecting livelihoods and reviving economies.

The Phase 5 of the Statistical Capacity Building program (SCB-5), which is managed by COMESA using AfDB Grant, will be crucial for maintaining the momentum built on past gains whilst shielding against possible reversal of the gains made across the continent in recent years. The program will focus on the following components; Improving the availability and quality of economic statistics, including the measurement of the COVID-19 impact, Improving the quality and availability of Social Statistics and reporting on COVID-19, Data Collection, Management and Dissemination and Strategic Planning, Systems Development, Coordination and Training. This TOR responds to need to strengthen agriculture statistics in order to inform the Feed Africa agenda of AfDB, the CAADP agenda, SDGs, Agenda 2063 and other regional agendas such as the COMESA Medium Term Strategic Plan.

COMESA Secretariat, as the Implementing Agency of the SCB 5 program of AfDB, is therefore looking for two consultants to assist with the compilation, review, validation and publication of the Minimum Core Agriculture Datasets (MSCD) reported by countries.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The Consultants will be required to undertake the following tasks;

• Compilation, review, validation and publication of reported/collected MSCD time series ;
• Follow-up with targeted countries to ensure that they report on the MSCD and establish an updated reporting status ;
• Identification of missing data and follow-up with concerned countries to fill the data gaps, and/or look for alternative semi-official data sources to get supplementary data ;
• Identification of inconsistent data (using the appropriate tool) and, together with countries to make the needed adjustments.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

• Update MSCD data on AIH portals ;
• Undertake any other activity as requested by the COMESA Secretariat.

4. DELIVERABLES

The consultant(s) will be jointly responsible for delivery of the following outputs.

• For each targeted RMC, to establish the most updated and validated MSCD time series ;
• Updated published MCSD on AIH and COMSTAT portals

5. ELIGIBILITY OF CONSULTANTS

This consultancy is open to nationals of AfDB Member countries that have sufficient experience to undertake this assignment.

6. DURATION AND DUTY STATION

The assignment is expected to have a contract duration of 5 months per consultant and shall where possible involve travels to targeted countries, when and where necessary, while that desk work will be home-based.

7. QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE

The consultant must have the following qualifications:

• At least a master’s degree in Statistics and/or economics, with a very good quantitative statistical and IT background ;
• Having the required relevant experience in the field of Agricultural Statistics at national and/or international levels, or any other similar area ;
• Proven experience in data compilation, review and validation, as well as in data processing, and analysis ;
• Proven experience in database management ;
• Professional experience in agricultural statistics undertakings would be an advantage ;
• Ability to interpret and relate statistical data to socioeconomic developments ;
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Package, and reputable statistical software’s for data processing, analysis and management.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

• Ability to complete tasks on a timely basis
• Excellent knowledge of one of the two languages (English or French), and good working knowledge of the other
• Excellent interpersonal skills in liaising with colleagues
• Openness to sharing information and keeping people informed; strong communications skills, both oral and written, especially ability to draft/edit a variety of written reports and studies in a clear, concise style, and to make presentations.

9. Pricing 

The fees for this consultancy will be $7,500 per month. 

There will be no price variation after signing of contract except upon a mutual written agreement between the two parties.

10. Payment: 

Payment terms and conditions shall be as per COMESA’s procurement 

Rules and Regulations payment guidelines.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

ANNEX 2: Expression of Interest Forms

COVER LETTER FOR THE EXPESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE

PROJECT………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

CURRICULUM VITAE………………………………………………………………………………. 10

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL…………………………………………………………………………… 13

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

COVER LETTER FOR THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE PROJECT REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21

REQUEST FOR SERVICES TITLE: CONSULTANCY ON MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD)

[Location, Date]

To: COMESA Secretariat

Dear Sirs:

I, the undersigned, offer to provide the consulting services on the MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD) in accordance with your Request for Expression of Interests number CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21, dated [insert date] for the sum of [Insert amount(s) in words and figures]. This amount is inclusive of all expenses deemed necessary for the performance of the contract in accordance with the Terms of Reference requirements.

I hereby declare that all the information and statements made in my CV are true and accept that any misinterpretation contained in it may lead to my disqualification.

My proposal is binding upon me for the period indicated in Paragraph 9(iii) of this Request for Expression of Interest.

I undertake, if my Proposal is accepted, to initiate the consulting services related to the assignment not later than the date indicated in Paragraph 10 of the Request for Expression of Interest, and to be available for the entire duration of the contract as specified in the Terms of Reference.

I understand you are not bound to accept any Proposal you receive.

Yours sincerely,

Signature [In full and initials]:

Name and Title of Signatory:

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

CURRICULUM VITAE [insert full name]

10. Language skills: (Indicate competence on a scale of 1 to 5) (1 – excellent; 5 – basic)

15. Key qualifications: (Relevant to the assignment) [insert the key qualifications] 

16. Specific experience in the region:

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

17. Professional experience:

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

18. Other relevant information: (e.g. Publications) 

[insert the details] 

19. Statement:

I, the undersigned, certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, this CV correctly describes myself, my qualifications, and my experience. I understand that any wilful misstatement described herein may lead to my disqualification or dismissal, if engaged.

I hereby declare that at any point in time, at the COMESA Secretariat’s request, I will provide certified copies of all documents to prove that I have the qualifications and the professional experience as indicated in points 8 and 14 above¹, documents which are attached to this CV as photocopies.

By signing this statement, I also authorize the COMESA Secretariat to contact my previous or current employers indicated at point 14 above, to obtain directly reference about my professional conduct and achievements.

Date:

ATTACHMENTS:    1) Proof of qualifications indicated at point 9

2) Proof of working experience indicated at point 15 The proof of stated qualifications shall be in the form of the copies of the degrees and diploma obtained, while for the professional experience the proof shall be either acknowledgement letters from the previous employers or copies of the Purchase Order/ Contract signed with them.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – Consultancy on Minimum Set of Agricultural Core Data (MSCD)

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

REFERENCE NUMBER: CS/STATS/SCBV/2021/21 – CONSULTANCY ON THE MINIMUM SET OF AGRICULTURAL CORE DATA (MSCD)

Please sign off to confirm your acceptance of the Total Financial Offer.

TOTAL FINANCIAL OFFER

US$37,500 per consultant

Signature [In full and initials]:

Name and Title of Signatory: